Eight Years Later

For the baby boomers, the assassination of JFK was a moment they will always remember. They know where they were, what they were doing, the kind of day it was… For those who remember September 11, 2001, it is the same. I recall preparing for my criminal law class when a news story broke showing a smoking tower in New York City.

When the news anchor announced that a plan had struck the tower, I figured it was a Cessna, probably a plane used to relay traffic news to some radio station. But, things changed.

I walked over to a friend’s so we could walk to class together. By the time I had left my dorm room to walk down a few flights of stairs, a second plane had struck the other tower. Now, everything had changed.

We arrived in class to find a television set up and the news on. My criminal law professor, normally so composed and rigid, looked positively scared as she handed out copies of the federal terrorism statute. She knew. We all knew.

Moments later, another plane struck the Pentagon. People began to cry, frantic phone calls were made, class was adjourned. We would not return to class for several days as the entire world was glued to televisions and the Internet for the latest news.

Anger, hatred, disbelief, sadness, grief… everyone felt different emotions that clear September day and would struggle with their feelings as anthrax and the hollow sense of not knowing what was next enveloped every day life.

And here we are, 8 years hence. The memory of 9/11 is a distant one. Many have declared the War on Terror over. Saddam Hussein was vanquished, the Taliban overrun, and Osama Bid Laden remains uncaught to the frustration of the military, the CIA, and the taxpayers.

Are we ready for the next one? I’m talking about the next attack, because there will be one. There always is. Wars will always be. The natural state of affairs is violence, not peace. This is true even in the natural world. Conflict is in our nature. It is easy to hate, hard to love. It is easy to lash out and hard to hold back.

Our boys are dying in Afghanistan for a country that infested with corruption and strife. The Taliban are gathering strength, the threats to freedom are on the rise from states and non-states. The number of nuclear armed nations is rising, not decreasing.

The Psalmist wrote:
“Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men;
preserve me from violent men,
who plan evil things in their heart and stir up wars continually.
They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's,
and under their lips is the venom of asps.

"Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
preserve me from violent men,
who have planned to trip up my feet.
The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,
and with cords they have spread a net;
beside the way they have set snares for me.

"…I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted,
and will execute justice for the needy.
Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;
the upright shall dwell in your presence."

Protect us Lord, heal our wounds, and help us to love our enemies.